Transcript of Audio of Connect Magazine Issue 9 November 2016

Transcript of audio of Connect Magazine – Issue 9 – November 2016

Speakers

NK:Nicki Kelly

NB:Nicky Barranger

A:Alec Sabin

LC:Leanne Coyle

AN:Alan Nettleton

AC:Alan Clark

PL:Penny Lancaster

PK:Pierce Keen (Dr)

PS:Philippa Simkiss (Dr)

RC:Rojimon Cherian

EC:Eamonn Coyle

CL:Chris Lofthouse

EH:Eric Harris

KS:Kevin Satizabel

CR:Claire Randall

GM:Gary Moritz

VH:Vidar Hjardeng

RW:Richard Wheeler

FJ:Faye Jones

AP:Angela Peoples

[piano music plays]

FEMALE VOICE: RNIB. Supporting people with sight loss.

NK:Hello and welcome along to the November edition of Connect, your community magazine. I’m Nicki Kelly, I’m partially sighted and I’m a singer-songwriter from Birmingham. I am the Founder of the VIP Project. It’s a new initiative founded by Arts Council England to enable blind and partially sighted people to pursue songwriting and performance with help from the professionals. There will be more on that in a future edition of Connect, but to find out more in the meantime you can visit thevipproject.com.

This month we have a packed programme ahead, including top tips on how to save energy and budget for Christmas. Well before I say anymore, I’ll hand over to Alec and Nicky who will let you know what else you will be hearing this month.

NB:Thank you Nicki and what a lovely introduction and I’m really looking forward to hearing more about your songwriting project, and as you rightly say, this is the November edition of your Connect magazine. We’ve got so much to squeeze into the next half hour. We’ll be hearing from a deaf-blind father of two and a blind mum of one about how they budget into the run up to Christmas.

AS:We’ve been finding out how you can save money and energy as we come into the colder months.

NB:In Your Voice, we’re hearing from a partially sighted musician and a blind fitness instructor.

AS:And Vidar Hjardeng has been reviewing Julian Fellowes’ latest novel for you.

NB:Well that’s just some of what’s coming up in this month’s edition of Connect Magazine.

AS:News.

NB:Europe’s leading accessible technology conference recently took place in Glasgow. Techshare aims to highlight the latest developments and cutting edge innovations in technology for blind and partially sighted people. Connect team member Leanne Coyle has more.

LC:This year RNIB Connect radio broadcast live from the event and uncovered a range of interesting gadgets and gizmos. Let’s start with one of the most talked about exhibits which was the driverless car. Great news for blind and partially sighted people but as Alan Nettleton from Transport Systems Catapult explains, it’s not quite ready to go yet.

AN:There’s a lot of issues around communication. For example, if you stop to wave somebody out with a hand gesture. We’ve got to try and design a behaviour that kind of replicates human driving but in a safe manner.

LC:And speaking of cars, has a taxi driver ever refused to pick you up because you have a guide dog? Well that’s something that Alan Clark from the taxi app Uber says it’s working hard to combat.

AC:There’s a record for every single journey – where the car has been, which driver came and collected you. If someone’s requested a car with Uber and has then driven off without allowing that passenger into the car, we have a record of that and have a zero tolerance policy.

LC:Accessible TVs by Samsung, audio description at the BBC and affordable electronic braille displays made up just some of the other exhibits this year. You’ll find lots more from Techshare Europe 2016 on the RNIB Connect Radio website.

AS:Sight loss is costing the UK economy £28 billion per year – that’s according to a report from RNIB and Specsavers called “The State of the Nation: Eye Health 2016.” The report marks the start of a three year partnership between Specsavers and RNIB. The charity has joined forces with the high street optician to encourage people to get their eyes tested regularly, and better care for their eye health. Model and photographer Penny Lancaster is Vice President of RNIB, alongside her husband Rod Stewart. She told RNIB Connect Radio more about why she’s supporting the campaign.

PL:There’s almost 14 million people in the country that are actually walking around not knowing necessarily that they have an eye problem or they’re using the wrong type of glasses.

AS:Dr Pearce Keen is a Consultant Ophthalmologist from Moorefield’s Eye Hospital.

PK:People can face really an array of problems if they don’t have regular sight tests, such as glaucoma, which is irreversible if it gets too advanced without treatment or conditions such as diabetic eye disease or age-related macular degeneration and all the evidence shows that earlier detection lets us save sight.

NB:Dr Pearce Keen. Now as you know, RNIB is the leading sight loss charity in the UK, and as you also know it does masses of wonderful things to fulfil those duties but have you ever wondered how RNIB measures what it does?

Well recently it launched its Impact Report for the past year and every part of RNIB Group, including Customer Council and all members of the Executive Board have contributed.

This report which is available on RNIBs website presents the charity’s efforts over the year, with special focus on bringing people together. Achievements include setting up your new vibrant community, that’s RNIB Connect - developing more partnerships with various organisations across the UK and improving services for blind and partially sighted people. RNIB’s Head of Evidence and Service Impact Philippa Simkiss explained how the data was collected.

PS:It’s based around the stories of a number of people who’ve been kind enough to tell, in quite a lot of detail, the way that they have worked with us, the way that we’ve supported them and it really focuses on the work that we’ve done as a whole organisation.

AS:You may well have received vision rehabilitation from your local Council. It offers crucial training and advice to those who have lost their sight. Many local Councils across England have already engaged with the See, Plan and Provide campaign which launched earlier this year to ensure this essential service is delivered in the right way and on time. With Councils setting their budgets for the coming year, RNIB is campaigning to ensure that the right resources are in place for vision rehab services. If you live in England, you can help the campaign by writing to your local Councillor.

To find out more, visit rnib.org.uk/seeandplan and that’s all one word – or you can call the campaigns hotline on 020 7391 2123.

NB:This festive season, RNIB is one of four charities to benefit from the sale of Waitrose charity Christmas cards, alongside Mind, Just Enough UK and the Marine Conversation Society, RNIB will receive 10% of the proceeds of each pack sold. The traditional style cards are available to buy in all Waitrose stores and come in a range of pack sizes – starting at £3.50 for ten. This is a great opportunity to encourage loved ones to support these charities with their regular Christmas shopping.

Your Voice.

AS:First up this month is Rojimon Cherian from Cambridge. He became unemployed after losing his sight due to a brain tumour but he made a bold move that changed his life.

RC:In 2004, I had a brain tumour operation, so I am not able to see anything clearly, just something like a shadow.

Then a local charity called Cam Sight, one person, they helped me, and they said, “Would you like to go for a walk?” Then I started slightly walking, then slightly jogging, and then running; that made me much more happy.

My mobility trainer said to me about an Instructability course so I think, “Okay, this is a good chance. Why can’t I try for that one?” And I do the course, that’s really, really helpful, tutor and all facility they helped me with, they helped me what to do out of the course, they give me a lot of training, disability training as well.

So like that, day by day, my life changed. Right now I am a fitness instructor and I can do personal training and everything. So some people, want to lose weight, some people want to get fit and some people want to tone their body, it depends on their taste and interests. I became a professional person because after I’ve done this Instructability course, I have the right qualifications.

So before, I didn’t know what to do and what I like, but now, I have my self-respect. If you are blind or if you have a disability, it doesn’t matter! You try to give something to the society. So I’m really, really shining like anything! Totally, totally changed my life!

NB:Thanks to Rojimon for sharing his story. Cam Sight provide help and support to blind and partially sighted people like Rojimon across Cambridgeshire, so if you live in the area, you can call them on 01223 420 033 or visit camsight.org.uk.

AS:If you’re interested in training to be a fitness instructor, Aspire Instructability offer accredited courses across England for people with a range of disabilities. They’re still confirming their next round of courses for 2017, but you can contact them to register your interest or find out more. Call 07407 532 197 or visit instructability.org.uk.

NB:Next we hear from Eamonn Coyle, a musician from Glasgow. He may be partially sighted but he’s certainly not letting that get in the way of his passion for performing.

[music fades in under speech]

EC:Hello, my name’s Eamonn Coyle, I’m from Glasgow and I’m registered partially sighted, I play in a band called Trongate Rum Riots. We play kind of like sea shanties and drinking songs, it’s kind of broadly described as kind of like folk punk music.

[short clip of music with vocals / accordion / penny whistle]

I play the accordion and the penny whistle. We’ve played quite a few festivals over the past year and a half or so and we’ve also played a lot of gigs around Glasgow and similar cities and towns in Scotland – places like Perth and Edinburgh.

Quite often the venues that I go into and they go into as a band are dark and a little bit dingy which has its advantages obviously, but one of the downsides is that, you know, being partially sighted, it kind of means I find it hard to find my around or to spot people. Like for example, if we go into a pub or a club that we’re playing in and maybe I’m going to be meeting friends in there who’re coming to the gig, I might find it quite hard to spot them, you know, that can cause a little bit of embarrassment for me.

Most venues will have quite a lot of light on the stage, so actually being onstage is the best place for someone who’s visually impaired like myself, you know, so I can see what I’m doing, I can see my instrument like when I’m playing and as I say, I play the accordion and the penny whistle and I can put my whistles down by the microphone, I can put my drink down or whatever by the microphone and stuff so I’m not going to lose stuff because the stage is generally quite a well-lit area.

[clip of music with penny whistle]

After the gig or whatever or before the gig walking about, you know, it’s a little bit difficult, especially if I don’t know the place too well and it’s hard to be kind of sure of myself, you know, like it certainly doesn’t put me off being in a band or playing live music. The only thing that I would say is, it’s actually quite funny because, you know, I get a bit of a slagging from my band mates because obviously like, you know, if I mistake somebody for someone else or if I can’t see something, we have a bit of a laugh and they kind of help me out and it’s really good in that sense and people are generally helping in that respect, you know, there’s no… there’s certainly no stigma for me being a musician and being partially sighted and I certainly don’t let it hold me back.

AS:Our thanks to both Rojimon and Eamonn for taking part in Your Voice this month. They’ll each receive a pair of heat resistant oven gloves from the RNIB shop for their contributions.

NB:And if you’d like to take part in Your Voice, do get in touch. Our contact details are in the information directory at the end of the programme.

AS:RNIB Connect Writing Competition.

Last month, we launched this year’s writing competition with the theme of anniversary.

NB:And we have some exciting news! We’re delighted to announce that award winning poet Emily Berry will be the main judge in our poetry category.

AS:The panel’s becoming more prestigious by the minute!

NB:Now if you’re thinking of entering and you’re looking for a little help perhaps with crafting your literary masterpiece, well RNIB has a special series of telephone writing workshops for you to join.

AS:That’s right! There’s practical advice on writing with sight loss on Wednesday the 23rd of November at 11:30am. It’s your chance to learn about writing equipment – from low tech to high tech.

NB:And on the 25th of November at 2:30pm, it’s the creative writing workshop with Deborah Moggach! Get hints and tips on writing from the bestselling author of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.

AS:And a poetry writing workshop takes place at 3pm on Tuesday the 29th of November with poet Linda France.

NB:These work the same as our regular telephone groups. It’s free of charge for members of the RNIB Connect community and all you need is a landline phone number.

To sign up to a session or for more information contact Thom Harmsworth in Talk and Support on 0845 330 3723 or email .

AS:Remember you have until the 31st of January next year to send us your entries and you can write up to 1,000 words of prose or 30 lines of poetry. To find out more, visit rnib.org.uk/writingcomp – and good luck!

NB:The big connection update.

LC:Hi, everyone. It’s Connect Team member Leeanne here with the latest on The Big Connection; a UK-wide event which brought together RNIB Connect community members, including Connectors, Staff and Trustees.

Hundreds, including some of you, travelled from around the country to Birmingham to discuss the most pressing issues affecting you as a blind or partially sighted person, from transport and access to work, to independence and public perceptions.

One of the issues that came up again and again, and you may well have experienced this yourself, is the frustration and the lack of understanding of sight loss from the general public. Richard Wheeler, who was at The Big Connection, has certainly found this.

RW:I only lost my eyesight about five years ago and before I lost my eyesight, I didn’t understand that sight loss isn’t just black and white. So I was very naive myself, and it took for me to lose my eyesight for me to realise that just because you’re blind, it doesn’t mean you can’t see anything and all that sort of stuff.

LC:Eighty-six year old Faye Jones from Anglesey in Wales revealed her biggest gripe since losing her sight.

FJ:I suppose people treating you differently, but because they don’t know any better. And they’re pleasantly surprised when they find out I’ve still got all my marbles and I’m perfectly okay! But people are frightened as well. That’s what I have found; in the early days they were very frightened and pretend not to see me.

LC:Angela Peoples from Essex is new to her Connector role and says The Big Connection event has really helped her focus on the job at hand.

AP:It’s been very informative to listen to other people’s stories, and listen to more experienced campaigners and individuals who’ve been involved in changing things, where I have not necessarily been doing that as actively as possibly they have. So that’s been helpful for me.

LC:Now these are just some of the people who got lots out of The Big Connection event. You too will begin to feel the benefit soon, and that’s because this event was just the start of things to come. RNIB will be holding conversations about the most pressing issues affecting you as a person with sight loss in the months to come. Keep listening to Connect Magazine to find out how you can get involved.

AS:Saving energy this winter.

NB:Well we’re well into the colder months now and at this time of year we all end up having to crank up the heating. With rising fuel costs, if you don’t have the right heating controls, you could be wasting not just energy but money too!

AS:Rica, a research charity which works with older and disabled people, has been finding out about the best options for blind and partially sighted people when it comes to adjusting your heating.

NB:Connect team member Leeanne Coyle spoke to Chris Lofthouse and Eric Harris who’ll tell us more about a number of ways you can save energy and money. We’re hearing first from Chris Lofthouse.

CL:When we looked at certain products, the thermostats, programmable thermostats and the vales on radiators, we found that the products aren’t very good. Really what people have to do is look for the features that make them easier to use, things like tactile, large contrast and large print with easy to use displays and easy to use features.